A ball joint in a vehicle steering linkage may include a castellated nut and a threaded stud with a diametrically extending hole. The nut is screwed onto the stud to a position in which a pair of opposed castellation notches in the nut are aligned with the hole in the stud. A fastener, such as cotter pin, is inserted through the hole and the aligned notches to fasten the nut to the stud.
When a nut is fastened to the stud of a ball joint in the foregoing manner, it connects components of the vehicle steering linkage. Accordingly, the installer must tighten the nut against the linkage component at a specified level of torque and advance the nut to align a pair of castellation notches with the hole in the stud. This can be a difficult and time-consuming procedure.